BY GALEN WELLNICKI
For a long time people have said two’s company and three’s a crowd in matters for romance. But it also applies to basketball — especially in Georgetown’s 57-37 loss to Class 4A power Houston Wheatley on Friday at the Delmar Fieldhouse in Houston.
The unbeaten District 24-4A Wildcats scored 33 of their 57 points on 11 successes in 25 attempts from beyond the arc. The prime culprit for Wheatley was 6-foot-1 post — yes post — Ariana Taylor, who made six of eight from the cliche-bound term “downtown.” But the Texas-El Paso signee was also a beast inside with five blocks and an ability to almost complete nulify Georgetown’s inside game.
“She was by far the best big player we’ve faced all year,” said GHS coach Rhonda Farney, who saw her team trail 16-4 after the first quarter, 29-15 at the half trail by as many as 23 in the second half. “She’s the real deal.
“Their 3-point ability surprised us. Four of the kids that played against us today weren’t on the court when we scouted them.”
Taylor shot with a high release more common in the boys game and used the combination of her bulk, positioning and quickness inside to distrupt the GHS attack. The Lady Eagles, who dropped to 5-4 for the season, made 23 turnovers under the pressure of their quicker and aggressive opponents.
After the game, one Lady Eagle veteran described Wheatley’s style of play as “mean.”
Wheatley, 7-0 after beating Houston Lutheran North, 56-38, on Saturday, limited GHS to just 12 successes in 35 attempts from the floor (34 percent), including just three of 13 from beyond the arc. Sophomore Mackenzy Mouton led GHS scoring with eight points, while senior Maddie Vickers added seven and junior Jaelyn Knight scored six.
The Lady Eagles did post a 33-26 edge on the boards with a balanced effort. Knight had six and senior point guard Josie Weirich, sophomore forward McCall Hampton and Vickers had five each.
Overall, Wheatley put down 44 percent of its of 43 ttoal shots with Taylor scoring 23 points — the most by an individual against GHS this year.
The Wheatley game completed the Lady Eagles’ pre-district schedule as they open 19-5A play against Pflugerville Connally at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Eagle Gym. In its last two starts, The Lady Cougars have beaten Bastrop Cedar Creek in their district opener, 56-39, but were crunched 81-48 in non-district play on Saturday by 6A Cedar Ridge.
Scouting reports indicated that Connally likes to drive to the bucket and do most of its offensive damage in the paint.
“There were some positives,” Farney said of the loss to Wheatley. “We were abe to outrebound them and we shot our free throws well (10 of 14). “But we definately had too many turnovers (including a number of errant passes).”
But as Farney pointed out its time for the Lady Eagles to take their game to a higher level with the beginning of the 16-game 19-5A race. Georgetown had the opening-round bye last Tuesday as Cedar Park, Rouse and Bastrop joined Connally as a first-round winners.
“Now is the part of the season that matters,” Farney said. “We got a lot of kids who can play and its a matter of finding the right combinations. We did some experimenting with that in the second half of the Wheatley game. Also, we need to become more consistant from one end of the game to the other.”
On the sub-varsity level Tuesday against Connally, the GHS JV (7-1) will play at 5:30 p.m. in Eagle Gym and the Freshman Blue (7-1) will play at 5 p.m. in the lower gym. The Freshman White (4-2) will play Salado in the lower Gym at 6:15 p.m.
After Tuesday’s action the Lady Eagles will take part in the 37th annual Jack Frost Invitational Tournament on Thursday through Saturday.
FRIDAY’S NON-DISTRICT GAME
At Delmar Fieldhouse, Houston, Nov. 24
HOUSTON WHEATLEY 57, GEORGETOWN 37
GHS (37) — Ali Isbell 1-1 0-0 3, Josie Weirich 1-4 2-3 5, Samari O’Brien 1-1 0-0 2, Kylie Ellsworth 1-8 2-3 4, Mackenzy Mouton 4-5 0-2 8, Jaelyn Knight 2-8 3-3 6, Maddie Vickers 2-5 2-2 7, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, McCall Hampton 0-2 2-2 2. Totals: 12-35 10-14 37.
WHEATLEY (57) — Telisha Brown 3-7 3-4 12, Kyla Stewart 0-1 0-0 0, Jada Lewis 1-1 0-0 2, Demetria Bonner 3-12 2-4 10, Jada Russ 4-6 0-0 8, Ke’Ahundra Lowery 1-4 0-0 2, Ariana Taylor 7-10 3-4 23, Keira Bener 0-1 0-0 0, Doris Crisp 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-43 8-12 57.
Halftime: HW, 29-15. 3-point shooting: GHS 3-13 (Isbell 1-1, Weirich 1-3, Ellsworth 0-3, Knight 0-1, Vickers 1-4, Hampton 0-1); HW 11-25 (Brown 3-5, Bonner 2-7, Russ 0-1, Lowery 0-3, Taylor 6-8, Crisp 0-1). Rebounds:GHS 34 (Knight 6, Weirich 5, Mouton 5, Vickers 5, Hampton 5); HW 26. Assists: GHS 10 (Knight 3, Vickers 2). Steals: GHS 7 (Ellsworth 2, Hampton 2, Smith 2); HW 12. Blocks: GHS 1 (Smith); HW 6 (Taylor 5). Turnovers: GHS 23; HW 8. Team fouls: GHS 14, HW 15. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none. Records: Georgetown, 5-4; Wheatley, 6-0.
DISTRICT 19-5A RACE AT A GLANCE
Standings: Bastrop, 1-0; Cedar Park, 1-0; Pflugerville Connally, 1-0; Rouse, 1-0; Georgetown, 0-0; Bastrop Cedar Creek, 0-1; East View, 0-1; Elgin, 0-1; Hutto, 0-1.
Tuesday’s results: Cedar Park 56, Hutto 43; Rouse 65, Elgin 48; Connally 56, Cedar Creek 39; Bastrop 61, East View 50. Bye: Georgetown.
Tuesday’s games: Connally at Georgetown, 7 p.m.; Elgin at Cedar Park, 6 p.m.; Bastrop at Rouse, 7 p.m.; Hutto at Cedar Creek, 7 p.m. Bye: East View.
SUB-VARSITY GAMES
(GHS scoring only)
Tuesday, Nov. 21
At Pflugerville Weiss
GHS JV 49, PFLUGERVILLE WEISS JV 41 –Kylee Sander 4, Hailey Hanson 5, Hailey Smith 6, Maya Perry 2, Mercedes Robledo 15, Keiana San Miguel 14, Alicia King 3. Halftime: GHS, 24-16. GHS record: 7-1.
At Salado
SALADO FRESHMAN A 47, GHS FRESHMAN WHITE 34 — McKenna Jansen 2, Cheyenne Garcia 4, Maddie LaCour 3, Megan Herring 21, Kaytie Sander 4. Halftime score: SHS, 20-13. GHS record: 4-2.
Source: Lady Eagle Basketball.